241 Central Park West

The Art Deco style high-rise apartment building at 241 Central Park West was completed in 1930 for Henry Goodman. It is one of two apartment buildings along Central Park West (opposite Central Park) designed by Schwartz & Gross in the Art Deco style. Most of the building is faced in yellow brick; the golden decorations near the entrance and the tiered top of the building are cast stone. The building at 241 Central Park West still contains rental apartments and is part of the Central Park West Historic District, listed in the National Register in 1982.

Before the street grid was extended this far north in New York City, the tract where 241 Central Park West would later stand was owned by William A. Davis. The Davis property extended from near the middle of the block to the south of W. 84th Street to the middle of the block north of W. 85th Street, where it abutted a former lane called Stillwell's Avenue. By 1894, six brick rowhouses on lots about 24 feet wide stood along Central Park West under the future footprint of 241; two more rowhouses were along W. 84th Street. The four-story rowhouse at the corner of W. 84th Street and Central Park West was The Semple School by 1915, a boarding and day school for girls.

Schwartz & Gross also designed the similar Art Deco apartment building at 55 Central Park West (the building associated with the Ghostbusters movie, also a Clio entry), as well as dozens of other apartment buildings in the city. Simon I. Schwartz and Arthur Gross met at the Hebrew Technical Institute and founded an architectural firm in 1902. They were still actively working until the 1940s and died in the 1950s.

Earle and Calhoun built the apartment building at 241 Central Park West on a 137-by-137 foot tract. Four of the ten front bays feature dark spandrels. The golden corn-shaped (some have likened the design to calla lilies or sprouts) ornamentation on the lower levels near the entrance and upper tiered stories are more modern than earlier Art Deco motifs; the tallest of the "corn stalks" are four stories. Besides the setbacks forming terraces on the upper levels, the roof is topped by a water tower. Apartments originally ranged from three to six rooms on the 18-floors plus a penthouse building. Some of the apartments have sunken living rooms and wood-burning fireplaces. A 1931 newspaper description touted the benefits of the sunken living room, railed gallery, and color tiled bathrooms. The building now houses 139 rental units in 24 different floor plans. No famous people seem to have lived in this building.

Covell, Anne B. Wilson, Suzanne J. Ruttenbaum, Steven R. NRHP Nomination of Central Park West Historic District, N.Y.. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1982.

Horsley, Carter. 241 Central Park West, CityRealty. Accessed September 13th 2021. https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/central-park-west/241-central-park-west/review/6409.

Howard, Alexandra Cushing. Building-Structure Inventory Form for 241 Central Park West, N.Y.. Albany, NY. Division of Historic Preservation, New York State Parks and Recreation, 1975.

Robins, Anthony W. New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham's Jazz Age Architecture. Albany, NY. Excelsior Editions, State University of New York Press, 2017.

Semple School. "The Semple School. Advertisement." New-York Tribune (New York, NY) October 22nd 1915. , Classifieds sec, 6-6.